Am I being paid fairly

[Striderswife]

I really don't want to be the Wal-Mart optician who only knows how to help pick out frames.

Nobody asked me what I wanted my business card to say, and imagine my surprise when I was labeled "Eyewear Consultant." I've burned through those as quickly as I could, and I'd really rather the new ones say either "Optical Manager" or "Certified Optician," or even both if there was enough room. :/

To me, there's a huge difference between an Optician and someone who sells glasses.

[Diopterman]

A salary survey was printed up in Eyecare Business Magazine in 2008.

http://www.eyecarebiz.com/article.aspx?article=102142

It makes a good, eye-opening, read!

[RustyS]

Ok i have been in the business 28 years. I am not ABO certified i can do prentice rule and power through the 180 in my head. I can guess PDs most of the time to 2mm (i measure of course) I also know that the temples point downward when mounting them to a frame front. I am going to put myself on Ebay for indentured servitude. What am I worth???

Not only do you have to account for experience, certification and communication skills with client you also have to look at demographics. In manhattan 30 bucks an hour is scraping by and could compare to making 10 bucks an hour in Arizona. Just saying. Even though bending temples might not make you rich being good, pushing yourself, and really helping peeps be able to see well and look good is one of the biggest satisfactions of the job

[Wes]

Experience +credentials+education= higher pay and more job opportunities.I am so glad I found this sight. I have read a ton of post not just from the thread I started. It really made me realize how little I know and just what a big field this is.I really don't want to be the Wal-Mart optician who only knows how to help pick out frames.I will study for ABO but not just for the ABO. I want to really expand my knowledge now. I may not take college courses but I intended to read and learn on my own time. I think working for a place with an instore lab would be fantastic. ( not lenscrafters though)

Maybe it's the drugs (prescription!), But I want to say I've really enjoyed this thread. So many good and valid points of view, but what's the kicker for me, is that I think this kid really "gets it". In a few days' time he went from an attitude where I wanted to ream his a$$, to one that I can really respect. Kudos.
Wes

[cocoisland58]

Experience +credentials+education= higher pay and more job opportunities.I am so glad I found this sight. I have read a ton of post not just from the thread I started. It really made me realize how little I know and just what a big field this is.I really don't want to be the Wal-Mart optician who only knows how to help pick out frames.I will study for ABO but not just for the ABO. I want to really expand my knowledge now. I may not take college courses but I intended to read and learn on my own time. I think working for a place with an instore lab would be fantastic. ( not lenscrafters though)

Eureka! You are on your way. Good luck to you. Every place you work will have something to teach you. Don't let the grass grow under your feet too long.

[Speed]

Experience +credentials+education= )

Totally worthless with out dependability and attitude. Don't forget.

[Mizikal]

Let me give you guys a better idea of where I am coming from with this and why I was needing to know about optician salary's.My wife and I are trying to have a baby and we want my wife to be a stay at home mom. That is my objective. I have actually been enrolled in college since last year getting some prerecs done to go into a nursing program.However after I discovered the difficulties of getting into a program I began considering all my options.The cost of going to school and time spent in school would be a loss if I did not get into a program. I loved my classes and I made good grades , but nursing programs can only take so many students. I love what I do now. I love it when people come in with questions and I am able to educate them on glasses and lenses.If I can support a family doing what I do now I plan on it. I think I would have loved being a nurse but I know I love being an optician. I am staying in the optical field , so I need to be the best optician I can be so I can continue to do what I love to help educate my patients and provide the best care for them.As I stated before hand I am getting my ABO and will continue to educate myself.I just don't want you all to think I was just after the money.

[Speed]

Tell her to do it. It is a very short time and once it is gone, there is no way to get it back. My wife made that choice and we had all we needed and most of what we wanted. All my kids are great Mothers now. We still don't have every thing we want, but more than we need.

[Nolpuppy]

I live in the Kansas City area myself. I work for a Private D.O. office and I make 18 an hour. It is very important to get your ABO, not only for your customers/patients, but for yourself! Wes is definitely right, you would be surprised what you do NOT learn in large optical chains. At walmart, no certification, and 5 years experience (at walmart) I'd say they are paying you fairly. I started out at $8.50 as an eyewear specialist at some large chains. Improve yourself, know your worth, work hard, and new opportunities will come. Good luck on the ABO! :)

[Mizikal]

Wow, you dug up my very first post. I cannot believe its been five years already! I am certified and moved on from Wal-mart. I make a tidy sum more money now to boot. Not going to lie this thread kind of embarasses me but it was the kick in the butt that got me my ABO. I wouldnt by chance know you would I? I work in Kansas City.

[alequin]

It seems like your optician salary is on par with the average for several areas given the employer and the number of hours worked. I would definitely think that earnings could be improved by acquiring credentials, reevaluating where you work, and evaluating things such as demand for eyeglasses in the area and geographic location. From what I've read, opticians in a lot of areas earn between $25,000 and $35,000 per year, but the exact number is determined by many different factors. Those who are able to demonstrate that they contribute significant value to an organization and who have lots of experience in the industry are likely to be paid more.

[Jstanfast]

Are you getting paid fairly? The answer is yes. You agreed to the current level of pay you are making .

But what are you earning? From a revenue point of view is the business more profitable because you are there? We like to think that the longer we are in a place the more we should be paid, without considering what we actually bring to the bottom line.

Should you be paid more? Probably, but you need to prove the case. I hired a woman with no experience for $20 an hour, but she was awesome. Picked up everything quickly and sold the entire store in a week, she was exception. But she was earning for me about $50 an hour in extra profits. Everyone here has talked about certifications which is good, but I would like to mention real business. I know tons of licenced opticians who can't contribute finacially to the success of the business. Can you?

As the managing optician/office manager of our practice, I can say this is super important information to remember when coming to management asking for a raise.

[rdcoach5]

That is kinda my attitude. I remember when I started my training and nobody seemed to know a lot about the lenses. For example they did not know what the index of refraction was on lenses. Like the 1.67 on high index or 1.49 on poly. I had to go online in my off time to learn. I feel I have to no almost everything about something or at least as much as possible.I am still the only person in my vision center that can tell you why a you need a pantoscopic tilt and how it works.They even told people the poly is more scratch resist then plastic. I know a lot and I want to no more. I cannot learn much more where I am seeing as how I am the most experienced optician in my area and no one seems to want to learn any more then they have to to sell glasses. I think that is very sad .

Sorry poly is 1.59

[Speed]

Wow, you dug up my very first post. I cannot believe its been five years already! I am certified and moved on from Wal-mart. I make a tidy sum more money now to boot. Not going to lie this thread kind of embarasses me but it was the kick in the butt that got me my ABO. I wouldnt by chance know you would I? I work in Kansas City.

How about the wife? Did you meet the objective?

[bob_f_aboc]

Sorry poly is 1.59

1.586

[3d glasses]

So this was my first post on Optiboard, I had to create a new account because I don't have access to the email address associated with this account anymore. Looking back its crazy to see how far I have come.